Mixing it up

Music from "The Nutcracker" by Tchaikovsky kept echoing through my head whenever I found time to tat this past week. Well, one reason is because I actually played some of that music on my cello in 2 concerts with the community recreation department orchestra this month. The other is that I was attempting to study some of the secrets of the Russian Ankars style of tatting from Corina's blog. Corina explains it very well.

My goal in learning ideas and techniques is to have more options to explore creatively. The brown earrings in the photo above are loosely based on the simple "Giddy" pattern from my Tatted Jewelry book, but I added more beads on picots and on the core thread, and wire-wrapped a charm to dangle from the bottom. The thread is 4 strands of polyester machine embroidery thread. So, I am mixing it up! I like the result, but controlling multiple strands of slippery thread is very challenging. I like working with my own hand dyed cotton best.


This week I also finished the blue necklace that features the dichroic glass pendant. It's the "Newcastle" pattern, also found in Tatted Jewelry. I used my own hand dyed thread combined with Lizbeth Wedgewood Dark. 

Craftsy has their classes on sale through December 25, so you might want to have a look using this link.

Hope your holiday season is safe and happy!